Trujillo, an architect who has chaired the board for years, will remain as vice chairman of the 11-member appointed board.

The 7-4 vote came at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday.

Gladney, who owns Sisters Courtyard Tea Room and Treasures, recently was appointed to a second five-year term on the board. She was the board member who tried to block the board’s decision to have a two-day retreat in Colorado Springs early this month.

Her motion not to go out of town was defeated on a 5-5 vote, according to several board members. That retreat is estimated to have cost $10,000, according to the authority’s staff.

Gladney said the retreat was not an issue in Tuesday’s vote, however.

“We’ve talked for some time about the need to have new people in leadership roles and we vote on the board chair position every year,” she said. “Gary will remain as vice chairman and will continue to play an important role in the authority.”

Gladney said one issue that may have tipped the board toward a new chairman was the rocky relationship between the authority and City Council over the recent request for a $14.5 million loan from the city’s half-cent tax fund for economic development.

PURA and the city are partners in the state-approved Regional Tourism Act grant that will let Pueblo keep a slice of state sales tax revenue for the next 50 years. That money could amount to $40 million or more and would be spent on amenities, such as a water park and attracting a new hotel.

But the first step is the $14.5 million expansion of the Pueblo Convention Center and when private financing for that project did not materialize last year, PURA and the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce asked council to loan that money from the city’s tax fund for recruiting new employers.

“I think we can do a better job of explaining our role in the community and the RTA than we have been,” Gladney said Tuesday.